The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Still-In-It-Just

Roland Garros is here! Day one is over and gone and we have some stories and some winners and some losers and all kinds of things. Tennis, tennis, tennis - I love tennis! I love Roland Garros! (Yes, I have had a couple of glasses of wine...)

The winners: Robin Soderling. Big time. He smashed Laurent Recourderc like a guitar and looked very, very dangerous. I thought this was the best performance of the day by a long way - for the boys at any rate.

Over in the women, you have to go with Gisela Dulko, because that was quite some win she had over Vika Azarenka. See notes re smashing like a guitar. But another person that did some serious smashing was Aravane Rezai. That gold dress has given her superpowers, even though it's totally fug.

The losers: You can't go past Victoria Azarenka on this one, because this was one of the most disappointing performances I have seen in a long time. I thought this was going to be an upset win, but I didn't think it was going to be an upset shut out. Dulko absolutely destroyed Azarenka, but Azarenka destroyed herself as well.

There have been 'Azarenka is the next Vaidisova' opinions voiced. I think this is a bit OTT - Azarenka had a leg injury which she didn't take time off to heal, which was totally stupid, but not the end of the world. She really needs to take time off now, and this exit gives that, at least.

And also - Janko Tipsarevic. What kind of performance was that?

The disappointments: It's got to be Gulbis. This was a great win by Julien Benneteau, but obviously not the way that Gulbis wanted to conclude his clay tournament, especially when he's done so well at this tournament in the past. And the retirement... oh, Ernie. Not happy with you, chappie.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Jo-W Tsonga. He really, really shouldn't have gone five sets. I picked him to win his quarter and I will be mighty pissed off if he screws up my bracket. Obviously he hasn't been in le form d'awesome or anything, but his quarter is so eminently winnable...

That's all from Day One... oh, except for Dinara Safina breaking up with Zeljko Krajan! That made me actually very sad - I loved those crazy kids, with all their shouting... I kind of hope they get back together. I love them.

Rezai, Randomness and Roland Garros

So in all that Fedal frazzling, I totally forgot about what I actually spent most of the week writing about - the women's draw in Madrid.

I wonder exactly how many people in the world put money on Aravane Rezai to win that tournament. And exactly what holiday island they're on now, which beach, which fruity cocktail they're sitting...

Seriously, Rezai has been on the rise this year - she first really popped into my field of vision when she very-nearly-almost beat Serena in the semis in Sydney, because I remember being very cross that she was going to be in the final, as I had tickets to it and hadn't exactly paid to see Aravane Rezai. And also she was wearing some hideous gold thing. But who would have thought she'd go all the way and win a Premier tournament?

Seriously, this year's Roland Garros is one OPEN tournament. Henin may be the favourite - and, indeed, the only big name player to have won one of the big clay titles - but just about anyone could win this one. Rezai aside, the last Premier event was won by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Now that MJMS isn't awesome, but she isn't normally what you'd think of as big title material.

But anyone is big title material right now in the WTA. Including Aravane Rezai.

Marion Bartoli better watch her back, because Aravane is skyrocketing up the rankings and may soon be French #1. Her victory over Venus - arguably the best performer of the leading women on clay this season, even though she hasn't won a title recently - was absolutely superb. She's already left perennial underperformer Alize Cornet far behind and it looks like the only way is up.

You always wonder how players are going to back up big wins like this one. However, what we have to remember that because this field is so wide open, ANYONE in the WTA draw can theoretically win Roland Garros. It might not be Rezai or MJMS, but someone random could come skyrocketing through in the same manner and claim the prize. Back it up shmack it up - they'll have a Slam!

Madrid Mesdames

It is very sad that, when there are only three proper seeds left in a tournament, two of them have to play each other in the quarter finals. But such is the way of the world, I suppose.

Sam Stosur may have lost to a Venus Williams running hot today, but she still has a whole lot of momentum propelling her forward into Roland Garros. She has a lot of ranking points there to defend, but to tell the truth, I don't think she's going to have tooooo much of a problem doing it. Of course if she gets drawn against a Williams in the quarters or something that might prove a problem, but for now, I think Sam is on track to do great.

I thought the same thing about Jelena Jankovic. I haven't exactly revised my position, but let's just say I wasn't expecting her to lose to Aravane Rezai, talented as Rezai is. (I remember her pushing Serena hard in the semis in Sydney... though that might have had something to do with the strange gold lame outfit she was wearing). Rezai herself might be a bit of a dark horse to look out for - a French girl in France...

But it's Venus who's really been proving herself. She can dirtball like nobody's business - I think it's her most underrated skill. And if I were a betting woman and I wanted to make a few dollars, I might just put a little money on V to win Roland Garros. I think she has a really, REALLY good chance.

In Roland Garros news, Kim Clijsters is out. Pout.

Basel Dystopia

Yet another reason I Severely Dislike Novak Djokovic - he went and beat my beloved Roger Federer in the final of Basel, the Roginator's home tournament. I am appalled and disgusted and this is a universe gone topsy turvy and if Federer doesn't keep the year end #1 I am going to punch a wall. Or something.

I don't think there's an epic chance of him losing it, but I understand that it is within the realms of possibility, and I don't like that very much. It makes me sad that a tournament that's been so great as Basel ended with what is obviously the wrong result. Hmph. Screw you, Novak.

Yes, I am a paragon of maturity.

Everything came up Muzz in Valencia, which is really hardly surprising. Much as it would have been nice for Youzhny the Make-Himself-Bleed man to pull an upset, it was never really going to happen. Still, great run for Youzhny, and nice title from Muzz, so maybe he can climb back over Djokovic to that #3 spot. Stranger things have happened.

And then, in Bali, Aravane Rezai won the tournament... whatever the hell it was. I still don't understand the point of Bali, but I guess it's nice that she won. It was such a classic WTA match, though... Bartoli has been playing great all this week, and then bam! final! ...

...retire!

An ignominious end to what really has been a pretty ignominious year for the WTA. Kim Clijsters' US Open win aside, I don't think we've seen much amazing stuff there... and I really, really hope next year is better.


Today's Results

Valencia Open 500 (Valencia)

Andy Murray def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-2


Davidoff Swiss Indoors Basel (Basel)

Novak Djokovic def. Roger Federer, 6-4 4-6 6-2


Commonwealth Bank Trophy of Champions (Bali)

Aravane Rezai def. Marion Bartoli, 7-5 retired

Dinara's Doldrums

I'm a little late, I know, but I felt I needed to wade into the whole Dinara Safina losing to Aravane Rezai really early in Toronto incident.

Sure, it's another symptom of MaratHeadCaseitis. But I also think it might be a good thing.


Dinara's been melting down a lot, yeah? But she's been getting deep in tournaments, yeah? Finals in Roland Garros, semis in Wimbledon, finals in Cincinatti - she's getting to the pointy ends of tournaments, she's just not holding up the trophy. But this time, the meltdown has come pretty early on - which seems to be a sign that things are getting worse...

...before, I think, they get better.

Rather than just storming around and going 'why am I such a chicken?' in big matches, the fact that she's lost one of the little matches she normally storms through - remember how she only lost five games in the first four rounds of Paris? - will prompt her, I think, to take a good long look at her game, and, in particular, her serve. The serve is really what's letting her down - she served seventeen double faults against Rezai. It's that crazy high ball toss of hers - it's got to go.

I don't know if we can expect too much to change between now and the US Open - but I'd really like to see this match send a message to Dinara. When she comes back after the Christmas break, I hope and I think we'll see real evidence that she's worked on that serve, because she is so good that that really shouldn't be a liability. She's talented enough to do anything she puts her mind to - I really want to see evidence of a lesson learned.



Today's Results

Western and Southern Financial Group Masters (Cincinatti)

Roger Federer def. David Ferrer, 3-6 6-3 6-4
Andy Murray def. Radek Stepanek, 6-4 6-1
Novak Djokovic def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-5 6-3
Lleyton Hewitt def. Sam Querrey, 6-1 2-6 6-3


Rogers Cup (Toronto)

Alisa Kleybanova def. Aravane Rezai, 6-3 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 7-5 6-3
Samantha Stosur def. Virginie Razzano, 6-3 6-1
Elena Dementieva def. Shahar Peeer, 6-1 1-6 6-4
Lucie Safarova def. Jie Zheng, 7-6 (7-3) 6-4
Serena Williams def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-1 6-4

Grunt Work

I bet Aravane Rezai is reeeeeeeeally popular in the locker room right now. I have this mental image of Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Michelle Larcher de Brito shoving her into a locker. Why? Because the ITF - finally - is thinking about doing something about grunting.

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I read this statistic that said that Sharapova's grunt was nearly the same decibel level as a lion's roar. Larcher de Brito's grunt wasn't on the list of decibels, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was louder. Everyone has noticed this - viewers round the world have been muting their TV sets on Sharapova and co. for years. But since the Rezai incident at the French Open, where she basically pointed out the elephant in the room, the ITF has been forced into action.

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At the most extreme, the way I understand it, a player can be defaulted for grunting, and this to me seems a bit extreme. Sure, grunting is a pain, but I am pretty sure it's relatively involuntary. I wonder if there's a sort of yardstick they're going to use. The criterion is whether or not it distracts the opponent, but you can imagine that some gamesmanship might go on there, exploiting that rule. And if you've been a grunter for life, can you break yourself of the habit?

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I don't really have a formed opinion on this subject. I'll have to ponder it more. But I'll be very interested to see what rules come in.

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Over to the actual tennis. The winners of Queen's and Halle last year turned out to be the Wimbledon finalists, but I will be quite surprised if that turns out to be the case this year. Kudos to Murray and major kudos to Haas, who really deserved a victory (especially one where he defeated a top four player) after he came so close in Roland Garros. Nice work, boys!

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Today's Results

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Gerry Weber Open (Halle)

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Tommy Haas def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-1

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AEGON Championships (Queen's)

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Andy Murray def. James Blake, 7-5 6-4

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AEGON International (Eastbourne)

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Janko Tipsarevic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 6-2

Ivan Ljubicic def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)

Robby Ginepri def. Andrey Golubev, 6-3 6-4

Denis Istomin def. Kevin Kim, 7-6 (7-5) 7-5

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Ordina Open (s'Hertogenbosch)

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Men's Draw

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Fernando Verdasco def. Pablo Andujar, 6-3 7-5

Igor Kunitsyn def. Arnaud Clement, 6-2 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-4

Raemon Sluiter def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-2 7-5

Ivan Navarro def. Gilles Muller, 7-5 7-5

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Women's Draw

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Sorana Cirstea def. Monica Niculescu, 5-7 6-3 6-3

Iveta Benesova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-2 6-3

Kristina Barrois def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-4

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AEGON Classic (Birmingham)

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Magdalena Rybarikova def. Li Na, 6-0 7-6 (7-2)